Predecessors and Cousins
by LilacLuna14
Summary: Adrien's older cousin, Felix Agreste, has decided to come back to Paris. At the same time, so has Marinette's older cousin Bridgette Cheng. Adrien and Marinette team up to get their cousins together while growing closer themselves, but things get complicated when Adrien and Marinette each lean that Felix and Bridgette were the Ladybug and Chat Noir before them.
1. Chapter 1

**OK, so after being inactive for about a year, I've decided to start writing and posting fanfic! This is my first Miraculous Ladybug story. I do not own ML or any of it's characters(sadly).**

"So, why again do we have to rush home after school?" Plagg asked Adrien as he munched on a slice of his favorite Camembert cheese. Adrien rolled his eyes. "For the fifth time, Plagg, my cousin is coming today! I haven't seen him in four years."

"But I'll still get cheese, right?" Plagg asked hopefully. Adrien rolled his eyes yet again. "Yes, Plagg, you'll still get cheese." Adrien grabbed his schoolbag and stuffed the black cat kwami into it before walking to the car that would take him to school.

When he arrived, Adrien was greeted by Nino. "Hey, what's up?" Adrien said, fist-bumping his best friend. "Adrien, my man!" Nino said. "Guess what?" "What?" Adrien asked. Nino grinned. "Guess who's got a date with Alya tonight?" "Dude! No way! You finally asked her?" Nino sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well…" "I ended up asking him instead." Alya said, walking up to the two boys with Marinette on her heels. "Either way, good job you two!" Adrien said. He turned to Marinette. "Hi, Marinette!" "H-hey, Adrien! You how are! Um, I-I mean are you how? I mean-" Adrien got that she was trying to ask how he was, and he smiled politely.

"I'm good, thank you for asking. How are you?" He asked. "Good I me. I-I mean, I'm g-good." Adrien was about to say something else when he was tackled into a hug by a yellow and white blur that shouted, "Adrikins!" "Hey, Chlo. What's up?" Adrien asked politely as he dodged Chloe's attempts to kiss him.

"I'm just fine, Adrikins. You remember that ball tomorrow night in honor of your cousin?" "Of course I remember, Chlo." "Well, we're obviously going together, so I need you to wear yellow so that we match. Okay, Adri-honey?" Chloe said. "Sure, Chlo. See you later." "You most certainly will." Chloe tried to kiss him once more before walking off.

"Dude, you have a cousin?" Nino asked. "Yeah. He's coming back to Paris today, and it's the first time we've seen him in four years, so Father is throwing a big ball to celebrate." "Cool." Alya said. "I was hoping that maybe all three of you could come? I could use the company, what with Chloe going to be around and all." "A-all THREE of u-us? As in, m-me t-too?" Marinette asked.

Adrien smiled brightly. "Of course you too, Mari!" The school bell rang, and the four friends walked inside. Alya left Nino to join Marinette. "Mari. He called you Mari! And he invited you to go to this ball tomorrow night!" "Yeah…" Marinette said with a dazed look on her face. "But he invited you and Nino too. It's just a friend thing."

She said. "Cheer up, girl! Isn't your cousin coming today too?" Alya asked. Marinette immediately perked up. "Yeah! Bridgette's coming today! I haven't seen her in a while. Like, four or five years." Marinette said as the two girls took their seats in the classroom.

The teacher walked in soon afterward, and everyone quieted as she began the lesson.

Bridgette was not having a good day. First, she left her suitcase in the cab she had taken to get to the Chicago International Airport. She had to chase the cab four blocks before finally managing to wave it down and get her suitcase, then sprint five blocks back to the airport.

Second, she had forgotten to leave her pocketknife at home and got in trouble with security, which confiscated it. Third, she barely made it onto the plane in time, and she found herself in a window seat next to two very loud, very obnoxious teenagers who's endless chatter didn't seem to cease.

Yeah, not a great day. _Chin up, Bridgette. At least you're going to get to see Paris again, along with Aunt Sabine, Uncle Tom, and Marinette!_ The bluenette smiled to herself, smoothing out the white blouse and black jacket she wore with knee-length shorts and black flats. Her hair was tied in its signature two, long bunches with her cowlick free above her head.

Her pale blue eyes closed as she fell asleep for the entire flight, only waking up when the teen next to her shrilly screamed that she could see the Eiffel Tower. When the plane landed and she got off, Bridgette decided to walk to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery as it was not terribly far.

Upon walking in, Bridgette was greeted by Sabine. "Hello, my dear! So lovely to see you!" "Hi, Aunt Sabine! It's great to see you too. Where are Uncle Tom and Marinette?"

"Tom is baking right now, and Marinette should be home from school any ti-" Sabine was cut off by the door opening and a cry of "BRIDGETTE!" "MARINETTE!" The two girls ran at each other and hugged. "It's so great to finally see you again!" Marinette said. "You too!" Bridgette replied, stepping out of the hug.

"How old are you now, fifteen?" "I turned sixteen last month." Marinette said proudly. "And you're twenty-one?" "Yep." "Cool! You can drink legally in the US!" Bridgette laughed at her younger cousin.

"How about you and I go upstairs to your room to talk some more?" The older bluenette suggested. "Sure!" The younger replied, grabbing her cousin's hand and pulling her up the stairs to her room.

Bridgette looked around Marinette's cozy loft room, taking notice of the magazine pages and photos pinned up. She stepped closer to study one. "Interesting choice in wallpaper, Mari." Said Bridgette. "I actually used to know an Agreste boy. It definitely wasn't this one, though. Felix never smiled and they don't look too much the same." Bridgette stepped back.

"Oh, yeah, that's Adrien Agreste. He's Gabriel Agreste's only son. Should I have heard of a Felix Agreste?" "Not in the fashion world, no. He had no interest in fashion or modeling. He's kind of cold and distant, but that didn't seem to stop me from getting a crush on him. He rejected me so many times, now it seems ridiculous."

Bridgette laughed, recalling her schoolgirl crush on the grey-eyed Agreste. "So, is school going well?" Bridgette asked her cousin. Marinette nodded. "Yeah. How's Chicago? It sounds exciting." "Chicago is… different, I guess, from Paris. English is also very, um, _interesting_ as well. Very different from French."

Marinette giggled. "Do you have anything going on the next couple of days?" Bridgette asked. "Well, Adrien, the Agreste in all of those clippings, invited me and our friends Alya and Nino to keep him company at this ball tomorrow. Chloe Bourgeois is going to be there." Bridgette raised her eyebrows.

"Bourgeois? As in, the mayor?" Marinette nodded. "Yeah, she's a brat who won't leave Adrien alone _ever_. It's a fact, not jealousy talking." She added. "I figure as much." The two girls giggled and chatted. Tikki watched from the corner, also very excited to see Bridgette but for different reasons than Marinette.

Felix was not in a great mood. Then again, he never was. He didn't smile often, and the traffic that morning in Melbourne had not helped. He had almost missed his flight. His uncle's car was at the airport in Paris to pick him up when he arrived, and he rode in silence.

It was nice to be back in Paris, he would admit. It had been four years since he had left. Felix was actually kind of excited to see his younger cousin. Adrien had always shared his pain with the fashion industry. Felix hadn't wanted anything to do with his family's fashion business, so he went to Melbourne to study art.

Felix had always loved art; it had been his passion since he was a young child. Felix hoped that Adrien wouldn't be forced to stay in the fashion industry, as he knew his younger cousin loved writing. No one else knew but he that Adrien wanted to be an author and not a model.

The silver car pulled up outside of the Agreste mansion, where Felix had lived up until four years ago after his parents had died. The day of the car crash had not been a pleasant one, and three Agrestes had lost their lives. Felix exited the car after thanking the driver and walked into the mansion.

Gabriel was in the foyer waiting for him, as was his assistant Natalie and Adrien. "Felix." Gabriel Agreste said in his usual monotone. "Wonderful to see you again." "You as well, uncle." Felix replied. "Natalie." He nodded at his father's assistant, who nodded back. "Hey, Adrien. How are you?" "I'm good, how are you, Felix?" His cousin asked, both boys remembering to maintain the formalities around Gabriel.

"I'm well. I was hoping that perhaps we could talk some more in you room? There is a new book I simply must tell you of." Felix said. Adrien nodded, smiled quickly, and walked up to his room with Felix following. As soon as the door closed, Adrien ran over and hugged his cousin. "So, how was Melbourne? Did you meet anyone at art school? Are you married? Or, if not, do you have a girlfriend? You must have a girlfriend. Did you-" Felix laughed.

"Slow down with the questions, Adrien. Melbourne was very nice, it's a pretty city. I have some friends back there who I did meet in art school." "I don't believe it, THE Felix Agreste actually has FRIENDS." Adrien mocked.

"Oh, come now. To answer your other questions, no I am not married nor do I have a girlfriend." "Do you like a girl and you just haven't asked her out yet?" Adrien asked. "No." Felix answered simply. "Oh. Well, are you at least a little excited for the ball tomorrow night? It is for you." Adrien said. "Don't remind me; I always hate your father's parties. Has Analise moved away yet?"

Analise was Chloe Bourgeois' older cousin who, much like Felix, had lost her parents. She had had an older sister who moved away many years ago, as she was seven years older than Analise, who was Felix's age. Adrien nodded. "Yeah, I heard she actually got into a college somewhere in northern France and we won't be seeing her for a while. Chloe is still invited to everything, though."

Much like Chloe pinned over Adrien, Analise had pinned over Felix. She had, actually, been worse that Chloe. Chloe was conservative and at least left when Adrien wouldn't comply, but Analise had seemed quite desperate. Felix shuddered at the memories.

"You did invite your friends, though, right?" Adrien nodded. "I did, I'm just concerned about one of them. Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and-" "Cheng?" Felix interrupted. "Yeah, why?" Adrien asked. "Do you have a picture?" Adrien nodded, and scrolled through his phone to find one. It was in a text from Nino of him, Alya, and Marinette from about two weeks ago.

Adrien handed Felix the phone, and the older Agreste studied the picture. "She looks exactly like her." He said. "Like who?" Adrien asked. "An old classmate of mine named Bridgette Cheng. They look almost exactly the same, except Bridgette's hair is longer and her eyes are a less vibrant blue."

Felix described his old classmate, still remembering her countless attempts to ask him out. More vividly, he remembered the clear sadness on her face every time he turned her down. Felix suddenly felt very bad. Adrien tilted his head. "You OK?" Felix shook his head. "Fine, thanks."

Adrien smiled and shook it off. The two boys continued to talk as Plagg watched. He, too, was excited about Felix's return, but for other reasons than Adrien.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, within a little over an hour of posting this fanfic, I've gotten over one hundred views, 3 follows, and 7 favorites, so I've decided to post chapter 2!**

"Soooo, which dress should I wear tonight?" Marinette asked Bridgette, holding up four different dresses. Two were blue, one was soft pink and crème, and the other was black and gold. "Did you sew these?" Bridgette asked. Marinette nodded enthusiastically. "Wow. They're all really amazing, but I'm thinking maybe the black and gold one?" Bridgette pointed at the dress.

The dress was strapless and reached a little above Marinette's knees. There was a cutout section in the lower back, underneath a bow-shaped fabric strip with a button to hold it together. The dress was made of a black lacey material with gold trim around the bottom hem and the small sweetheart neckline. A few layers of gold chiffon/peplum-type fabric gave it its light volume.

"It's gorgeous. Do you have black or gold heels to wear?" Marinette nodded as she set the other three dresses down and the black and gold dress on her desk chair. "Gold." Marinette pulled a simple pair of golden heels from her closet. Bridgette checked the time.

"Goodness, Marinette! You're going to be late for school!" "Oh no!" Marinette dropped the heels, grabbed her schoolbag, and rushed downstairs. "Have a nice rest of the day!" Bridgette called. Marinette and Bridgette had spent most of Marinette's lunch hour deciding which hairstyle she should wear, and what makeup and dress and so on. It seemed that black and gold was to be Marinette's color scheme.

Bridgette couldn't help but think that the longer of the two blue dresses would look nice on her own personnel. She almost wished she could go with Marinette.

"Okay, so white and blue suit for me, and black with a bit of yellow-gold for you?" Felix asked Adrien as the younger cousin collected his schoolbag and supplies. "Yeah." "How long is this ball again?" "Seven to ten-thirty." Adrien answered. Felix groaned.

"Three and a half hours. I might 'accidentally' die, Adrien." He laughed. "It won't be _that_ bad, Felix." "Sure." "I've got to go back to school. I'll see you later!" "Hopefully! I'm not attending this horrid thing on my own!" Felix called after him.

As soon as Adrien stepped out of the car, screams and blasts were heard. Akuma attack. Adrien ran off into an alleyway. "Plagg! Stop eating your smelly cheese and get out here!" The black cat kwami lazily flew out of the schoolbag and yawned. "What now?" "There's an akuma attack! Plagg, claws out!" Plagg groaned as he was pulled into Adrien's ring, and Adrien was transformed into Chat Noir.

Chat leapt from the alleyway onto the rooftop, and ran across them to get to the scene of the attack. "I am Tidal Wave! Ladybug, Chat Noir, show yourselves and give up your miraculous or I will flood this city!" The akuma-tized villain cried, standing atop a giant wave.

"Water. It had to be water." Chat muttered. "I take it you don't like the water, kitty?" He heard Ladybug say. He broke into a grin. "Ah, there you are, my Lady. You're right, I paw-sitively des-paws the wa-purr." Ladybug shook her head. "That was bad, even for you."

"Ladybug! Chat Noir! I demand you hand over your miraculous!" Tidal Wave said, moving her wave closer to the building they were standing on so as to be nearer when she addressed them. "Sorry, but no can do, Tidal Wave!" Ladybug said. "Fine; have it your way!" Without another word, a giant wall of water crashed onto the two superheroes.

The wave pushed them off the building and sent them spiraling. Chat righted himself and quickly swam to the surface. His Lady had just popped above the water and taken a few breaths when another huge wave crashed over them. Chat had barely broken the surface when a third crashed over him. By the time he got to the surface, he was gasping for breath.

He managed to extend his baton so that he perches on top of a tall lamp post. Chat Noir didn't see Ladybug anywhere. "Ladybug? Ladybug?" He called out. He didn't see or hear her, but he did see a flash of red still under the water. "Ladybug!" Chat leapt off the lamp post and dove underwater towards the flash of red he had seen. He found his Lady trapped underneath a car and nearly unconscious.

Chat managed to pull her out and to the surface quickly. He got the both of them on top of a building as the water level began to drop. Ladybug coughed up some water before taking a few deep breaths. "My Lady, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, _Chatton_. Thanks for the save." She tried to get onto her feet, but swayed a little. Chat Noir caught her. "Breath for a minute, Ladybug." She did, was able to stand on her own a moment later. "Lucky charm!" She cried, flinging her yoyo up into the air. A donut-shaped floaty appeared. "What?" She asked. "Oh, I'll figure out what to do with this in a minute. We've got to find Tidal Wave."

"I think the akuma's in her surfboard pendant." Chat said. "Okay. Let's go!" The duo sprinted across quite a few rooftops before finding the akuma-tized girl in a large park in the eastern part of the city. Ladybug looked around, and a plan formulated. "Chat, use your cataclysm on that surfboard she's standing on. I'm going to get her necklace."

Chat nodded, and took off as Ladybug slipped the floaty over her head and around her waist. She ran forward too, and as soon as she saw Chat Noir hit the surfboard with his black-glowing hand, she jumped at Tidal Wave and ripped her necklace off. When she fell into the water, the floaty kept her above it.

She pulled it off, and threw it up while treading water and yelled, "Miraculous Cleanse!" The water flooding through the streets quickly disappeared, and Ladybug dropped the pendant on the ground and crushed it. "You've done enough, nasty akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug caught the black butterfly in her yoyo. "Gotcha! Bye, bye, little butterfly." She said as she let the now white and purified butterfly go.

Her earrings beeped, but she ran over to check on Chat Noir. "You okay?" "I'm purr-fectly feline, my Lady." His ring beeped, leaving only three spots. Hers beeped as well, leaving only two. "I've got to run; See you, Chat Noir!" Ladybug yoyo-ed off, and Chat Noir ducked into an alleyway a little closer to school to de-transform.

"You've got camembert, right Adrien?" Plagg asked. "Yes, Plagg, in my-" "Adrien?" A voice asked. Adrien slowly turned to see Felix in the alleyway with him. "Felix, it's not-" "Felix!" Plagg cried, dashing over to him and hugging him. "It's been too long!" "Plagg, it's only been four and a half years since I saw you last." "Still, what brings you back here?" "Stuff." Felix answered.

"Okay, Felix, you now know I'm Chat Noir, but how do you know Plagg?" Adrien asked, walking over to them. "Oh, well, it's a bit complex, but to put it as simply as I can-" "Felix was the Chat Noir before you." Plagg interrupted. "Well, I went by Black Cat, but yeah."

"You were? That's so cool!" "It was fun. But come on, you've got to get to school." Felix said. Adrien held open his bag, and Plagg flew into it. "See you, Felix!" Adrien yelled. Felix chucked, and began to walk back to the Agreste mansion.

Marinette ducked behind her parent's bakery as she de-transformed. "That was pretty quick, Tikki." Marinette said, opening her purse to pull out a chocolate chip cookie for the kwami. "Yeah. Are you sure you're okay, Marinette? You might have drowned if Chat Noir hadn't found you."

"Occupational hazard of being a superhero. I'm fine, Tikki." "Tikki?" Someone said. Tikki flew up, gasped, and darted forward with a cry of, "Bridgette! My goodness, it's been quite a few years!" Marinette turned to see her older cousin embracing her kwami.

Bridgette laughed. "I missed you too, Tikki!" "You know Tikki?" Marinette asked her cousin. Bridgette looked at Marinette and nodded. "Bridgette was the Ladybug before you, Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed. "I went by Lady Luck, but I did have the Ladybug earrings before you."

"So, you and I are both wielders of the Ladybug miraculous? That's so cool!" Marinette gushed, and she ran over and hugged her cousin. Tikki joined in, pressing up against the two bluenette's cheeks. Bridgette pulled back suddenly.

"Mari, you're going to be late for school!" "Oh, crap!" Tikki flew into her purse, and Marinette dashed across the street towards school with a quick shout of, "Bye!" Bridgette smiled, and headed back inside the bakery.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, sorry for the late update, but a big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, or liked this story! It means a lot. This chapter contains ADRIENETTE fluffiness towards the end, so beware;)**

 **-LilacLuna14**

Surprisingly, Marinette made it to school perfectly on time. She even arrived before a few of the other students. "Um, hey there, Marinette. Why, let me rephrase this: _how_ are you at school so early?" Alya asked. "I ran." The bluenette said simply.

"So, is your cousin okay and everything?" "Oh, yeah, Bridgette's just fine!" Marinette said happily. "Hey, Mari?" Came a soft voice in front of the two girls. Marinette's head whipped to face the blond boy who had spoken. "Y-yes, Adrien?" She said.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd want to invite your… cousin? Bridgette Cheng, to come with you to the party tonight? I've got someone who'd like to see her."

Marinette nodded enthusiastically. Adrien smiled at her, then turned around to face the front. Marinette sighed dreamily as she leaned back in her chair. This was going to be a long day with an eventful night.

When Marinette came home, Bridgette was just pulling a braided strawberry-cheese Danish out of the oven. "Bridgette! Guess what?" Marinette exclaimed. "What?" The older bluenette asked. "You get to come to the party with me tonight!" Marinette said, clapping her hands.

"Really?" "Yep! So come on: we've got to go start getting ready!" Marinette grabbed her cousin's hand and began pulling her towards the stairs. "Woah, Marinette! Slow it down: we've got some time. Come and try some of the Danish I just made! It's strawberry." Bridgette pulled Marinette back.

"Okay, I guess a little snack wouldn't hurt." Marinette opened her purse to let Tikki out, and broke off a piece of the pastry for the kwami. "Bridgette, this is good!" Tikki said happily, eating the pastry bite quickly. Marinette and Bridgette laughed as they munched on their own pieces of the pastry.

"Thank you, Tikki!" Bridgette said. She turned to her younger cousin. "Would it be rude if I asked if I could wear the longer of the two blue dresses? I like that one a lot." Marinette smiled. "Of course you can wear it, Bridgette! But come on, we've now had a snack so it's time to get ready to go!"

Bridgette couldn't help but giggle at her younger cousin's antics. Marinette was a very bubbly, very excitable person, after all.

"Okay, wait, you invited _who_ to _what_ because _why_?" Felix asked his younger cousin. Adrien sighed. "That girl you mentioned, Bridgette, is actually Marinette, the girl I showed you a picture of, her cousin. So, I asked Marinette if she wanted to invite Bridgette, and she said that she would. So, you're going to get to see her again! Isn't that great?"

Adrien asked. "Maybe?" Felix responded. "Why the 'maybe'?" "Bridgette had a big crush on Felix and kind of stalked him." Plagg supplied. "Oh. Okay. Maybe she's different now, and won't stalk you!" Felix snorted. "I would hope not."

"Anyway, she's coming, so I thought I should tell you so!" Adrien beamed at his older cousin. "Well, thank you for telling me so that I can begin to mentally prepare myself should she have not changed." "Was that a joke?" Adrien asked. "No."

Adrien had not seen his father in one area for much longer than five minutes in a long time. It was nearing seven-thirty, and still his father had not moved. Nino had actually discarded the headphones and put on a dress shirt, but he assured Adrien that he had earbuds tucked into his pocket.

Felix had seemed to like Nino perfectly well, so Adrien was hopeful that he would also like Alya and Marinette. They hadn't arrived yet, but as soon as that through slipped past his mind, the doors opened, and in walked not just Alya, Marinette, and who Adrien assumed was Bridgette, but Chloe as well.

Chloe was wearing a very poofy yellow dress that's color was squished somewhere in between putrid and neon. The minute she saw him, Chloe shouted "Adrikins!" and tackled him in a hug, her giant ball gown fanning out behind her.

"Hey, Chloe." "I see you remembered to wear the yellow." "I did." Adrien replied. "And that's perfect! Now, come and introduce me to your cousin." Chloe dragged herself and Adrien's arm over to Felix. "Chloe, this is Felix. Felix, this is Chloe Bourgeois." Felix raised an eyebrow.

"Bourgeois? As in, Analise Bourgeois?" Felix asked warily. "Analise is my older cousin." "Oh. Well, then, it's a _pleasure_ to meet you, Miss Chloe." Felix said, somewhat coldly. "Come on, now, Adri-honey. We need to-" "Actually, Chloe, I need to go and greet the rest of my person guests." Adrien slipped his arm from Chloe's grip and moved to meet Alya and Marinette.

He noticed that Alya had stuck with her traditional color of orange, and had selected to wear an ombre dress that matched her hair colors. Bridgette looked almost exactly like Marinette, but he could find a few slight differences. Both of the bluenette's dresses had obviously been designed and sewn by Marinette.

"Hey, Alya. Hey, Marinette. Thank you for coming. I would assume you are Bridgette?" Adrien asked politely, turned to her. Bridgette nodded, and shook his outstretched hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Adrien. You look almost exactly like…" Her eyes shifted over to Felix, and Felix's to her. "Felix." Bridgette finished.

"Right, you two were old classmates. He's over there if you'd like to talk." Adrien pointed to his cousin, and Bridgette walked in that direction. "So, Marinette, did you make your dress? I like it a lot." "Oh! Um, y-yeah, I d-did." Marinette said. "Mine and Bridgette's too. She's got an amazing talent." Alya cut in.

"I don't doubt it. I think I'm going to go make sure that Felix hasn't run away screaming from Bridgette. He said that she used to be a little bit of a stalker." Adrien said, walking to his cousin. Alya elbowed Marinette. "Not the first time I've heard of a Cheng girl stalking and Agreste boy." "Oh, shut up, Alya." Marinette groaned, leaving Alya and following Adrien to Bridgette and Felix.

She was pleasantly shocked to see the two young adults actually having a civilized, normal conversation. Bridgette turned upon seeing Marinette. "Oh! Felix, this is my cousin, Marinette." Bridgette pulled her younger cousin over.

Felix held out his hand, and Marinette shook it. "Nice to meet you!" She said. "You too. I would assume you know him, but Bridgette, this is _my_ cousin, Adrien." Felix pulled Adrien over, and he greeted Bridgette with a wave and a smile. "Hi again." "Hello." Bridgette smiled back.

Felix eyes Marinette, and noticed her eyes on Adrien. When Adrien looked at her, she blushed and looked away. Mentally, Felix smirked. History was repeating itself, in a sense. While Bridgette had been somewhat of a stalker, Marinette just seemed to be unable to form coherent sentences around Adrien.

"How about Adrien and Marinette go dance?" Felix asked slyly, seeing that people were beginning to. Bridgette caught his eye and Felix winked, then let his eyes dart to Marinette, then Adrien, then back to meet Bridgette's.

Bridgette caught on, and gently pushed Marinette forward. "Yeah, why don't you, Marinette?" Marinette blushed. "I-I can't d-dance v-very well." She stuttered. "I'll teach you." Adrien offered. Marinette sighed, then nodded. "But only if you two do as well." She added.

Bridgette and Felix looked at each other, shrugged, and followed their younger cousins over. "Okay, Marinette. To start, one hand here," Adrien guided Marinette's right hand to his shoulder. "And one hand here." He held her left hand in his right. Marinette blushed, and turned a little redder when Adrien's left hand settled on her waist.

Adrien guided Marinette through the steps, and she picked it up quickly. "Good call making them dance together too." Adrien said, nodding at Bridgette and Felix. "They'd be a cute couple." Marinette said, surprised with herself in the fact that she was actually able to speak normally around Adrien.

"I say w team up and get them together." Adrien suggested. Marinette smiled. "I'm in." "What do we do first?" "All four of us go out for coffee, and we casually ditch them." Marinette says. Adrien grins. "Perfect. I can get a text from 'Natalie', but it'll actually be Nino."

"And I can get Alya to call me posing as 'Maman' to tell me I'm needed at the bakery." "Perfect." Adrien let go of Marinette's hand and held out a fist for a fist bump. Marinette obliged, but both found something seeming all too familiar in it.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry for the late update! I had a bit of a writer's block and I was also out of town.**

 **I'm considering adding in the fox and bee miraculouses! I like the Nathanael as Firefox and Chloe as Queen Bee ideas; what do you guys think?**

 **Should I add in the fox and bee miraculouses? You guys can tell me in reviews or PMs.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

 **-LilacLuna14**

The following day at school, Adrien and Marinette talked to Alya and Nino about their plan. "The two of them just click, you know?" Adrien said as he described both her and Marinette's cousins to Alya and Nino.

Alya elbowed Nino and whispered "They're not the only Agreste boy and Cheng girl who click." Nino nodded and grinned.

They turned back to their friends. "So what is this master plan of yours?" Nino asked. Marinette answered, "We plan to ask them to go with us to get coffee, and then we need you two to each call us, Alya posing as my mom and Nino posing as either Adrien's father or his assistant. Which would be more believable?"

She asked the blonde. "My father's assistant, Natalie, for sure. My father would never call me." "Okay, but how would we know when to call you?" Alya asked.

"We'll text you before." "What's the rest of this plan?" "Well, when you guys call us, we walk out and leave them alone, and then we get everyone to think they're a recently engaged couple, and then sit back and watch." Marinette said with a grin, a little spark of mischief gleaming in her eyes.

"That is devious, Mari." Alya said, grinning as well.

After school let out, Marinette walked home to find Bridgette taking some croissants out of the oven. "Did my parents put you up to helping out with the shop?" Marinette asked. "No, I volunteered." Bridgette replied.

"Oh. Cool. Hey, do you want to go and get some coffee with a couple of my friends later?" "Sure! I'm running the shop until your parents get back in about an hour; can we go after that?" Bridgette asked.

"Yes, that's fine. I'm going to go get started on my homework, okay?" "Okay!" Marinette climbed up the ladder to her room, and pulled out her phone.

'Everything is going well. Will be able to go in about an hour and a half. You?' Marinette sent the text to Adrien, who replied a moment later. 'All good here. Hour and a half is perfect.'

Marinette still couldn't get over the fact that she was actually texting with Adrien, the love of her life for the past year. Marinette sighed dreamily. "I take it that things are going well?" Tikki asked. "They are, Tikki! I'm finally talking to Adrien normally!"

"I knew you could, Marinette, you just needed to try!" Tikki said. "And we're probably going to be around each other a lot more when we're setting up Felix and Bridgette." "Are you positive that setting up both of your cousins is a good idea?"

"I'm sure it is. What could go wrong?"

Marinette made the mental note never to ask what could go wrong. Sure, everything started out perfectly fine. She and Bridgette 'ran into' Adrien and Felix, who were 'coincidentally' at the same coffee shop at the same time.

The four all sat at the same table, and were happily talking until Marinette and Adrien offered to go and grab everyone's drinks. Giggling about it, they ordered two coffees and a single piece of white cake for their cousins.

When the barista asked about it, Adrien told them that the two were recently engaged and planning their wedding. The barista smiled and asked if he could personally take over the order to congratulate them.

Marinette quickly said that he could, and she followed Adrien back to the table. Marinette told them it would be out in a few minutes, and Felix and Bridgette thanked them before resuming their discussion.

A couple of minutes later. Both Adrien and Marinette's phones started ringing. Marinette, thank God, had remembered to change Alya's contact so that it said 'Maman' instead of 'Alya'. Adrien had done the same, changing Nino's to Natalie.

"It's Maman; I should take this." Marinette rushed out. She was followed a minute later by Adrien, after telling their cousins that Natalie was calling. "Probably about some photo shoot. I'll be back in a minute."

Adrien and Marinette met up outside, grinned, and high-fived. They watched as the barista brought the coffee and cake to their cousins. When Bridgette became very flustered and Felix made and X motion with his hands.

Adrien and Marinette high-fived, both grinning. A few minutes later, the two teens joined their cousins, who, oblivious to their younger cousin's schemes, told them about what had happened. The four of them left not too long later, and that was when things went wrong.

There were screams and people running. All four knew that it was an akuma attack. Adrien and Marinette both shouted quick excuses and sprinted in the direction of the shouts, each ducking into a different alleyway.

Bridgette and Felix glanced at each other. "Is he…" "Is she…" They both asked, then nodded. "They don't know." Bridgette said. "I would assume not. I still don't know who my Ladybug was." Felix muttered the last part.

Adrien transformed into Chat Noir, and Marinette transformed into Ladybug. The two of them raced out of their respective buildings and almost collided, skidding to a stop inches away from each other. "Chat?" "Ladybug?" "What are you doing over here?" "I'm with my cousin and a friend." "Me too, actually."

This akuma in particular seemed rather annoying, but looked pretty harmless. "I am the Secret Truth, and I will reveal what you won't!" The man was tall, and clad in a red, white, and black suit. His mask was white, and thickly outlined his eyes.

"Shouldn't be too hard." Chat Noir said. He drew his baton and charged at the akuma. From seemingly nowhere, the Secret Truth pulled out both a pistol and a long sword. He used the sword to block Chat's attack, and fired the pistol. Chat was able to dodge it, and it ended up hitting a building.

Immediately, the building was reduced to rubble and a few piles of bricks. Chat Noir lept backwards, landing at Ladybug's side. "Okay, nevermind." "We need to take him out quickly! I don't want to find out what would happen if living things were hit!" Ladybug said.

The glowing outline of a butterfly appeared around the Secret Truth's eyes, and both heroes knew that Hawkmoth was telling him something.

Bridgette and Felix were watching from nearby, and both knew something bad might be about to happen. Bridgette readied herself to dart out and help the two teens if it was necessary.

Faster than either Ladybug or Chat Noir could comprehend, the Secret Truth spin on his heel and fired another shot of his pistol, this time aiming straight for Ladybug.

It never hit her. Bridgette had darted out and the shot hit her. She was frozen in place, and black letters crawled across her skin. They told secrets that Bridgette had kept, lies she had told, things she hadn't said. But the biggest one was in thick, bold letters and hovering over her forehead. It read, 'I was the previous Ladybug'.

Felix was able to read it, and gasped. Bridgette Cheng, the girl who had had a massive crush on him back in high school and had stalked him, was the Miraculous Coccinelle aka Ladybug, the love of his life? Felix's head was spinning, and he knew he needed to move, to go help, but his body wouldn't move.

Finally, Felix regained control of his senses and dashed over. The Secret Truth had wandered off elsewhere when Ladybug dashed over to Bridgette. Chat Noir had his hands on Ladybug's shoulders from the side while she hung her head, very disappointed in herself for the transpiring events.

Chat Noir was trying to comfort her when Felix approached. The two superheroes turned to him. "Don't either of you two get hit, or it will reveal your civilian identities. I don't think that either of you would want to find out like I just did."

Ladybug's eyes widened while Chat's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He already knew his older cousin had been the Black Cat miraculous wielder before him, but he was shocked the Felix would just say so. He was even more surprised that Bridgette had been ladybug before His Lady.

"You-you were Chat Noir. Before him." Ladybug pointed to Chat Noir. "Yes, but I went by Black Chat just as Ladybug often went by Miraculous Coccinelle." Felix told the duo. He looked at Ladybug. "I suggest you use your Lucky Charm quickly."

"Right." Ladybug agreed, throwing her yoyo up into the air and shouting "Lucky Charm!" A wheel of red-and-black-spotted packing tape dropped into her hands.

"Where do you plan on shipping this akuma off to, My Lady? America's supreme court?" Chat joked. "Very funny, Chaton, but we do need to hurry and finish off this akuma. Felix, keep Bridgette safe." Felix nodded, and the duo took off to chase after the Secret Truth.

Felix looked back at Bridgette, pondering what exactly he would do when she was freed. _Oh boy, do I have some shit to deal with_.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! I'm so sorry for the wait! Our wifi cable decided it needed to get cut by workers and I've had no wifi for a bit. But now I has wifi, and I can post fanfiction! Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and commented on this story! It means a lot to know that you guys enjoy what I write. So here's chapter 5, and for anyone who reads Five Times Chat Noir Didn't Say I Love You and One Time Ladybug Did, the 6th chapter will be up soon!**

 **-LilacLuna14**

Felix waited with the frozen Bridgette for quite some time, contemplating. How had he not seen it? She had the same eyes, hair color and style, height, build, and even smile as Coccinelle had. He didn't know how Adrien and Marinette didn't see that it was each other.

Both Bridgette and Marinette seemed so much unlike Coccinelle and Ladybug as civilians that he almost didn't believe that it was, in fact, them. His younger cousin was almost the exact opposite of Chat Noir, not unlike he had been as the Black Cat.

Suddenly, the red light and ladybugs of the Miraculous Cure flooded through the air and wrapped around Bridgette. When they left, Bridgette was unfrozen and tipped forward. Felix shot out and caught her, blushing a little.

He pulled her upright and smiled somewhat giddily at her. "Felix? Are you o-" Felix cut her off with his lips on hers, pulling her into him. Bridgette squeaked a little, but went along with it nevertheless.

They broke the kiss after a few more heartbeats, foreheads touching. "Felix, w-what was that?" Bridgette got out. "It's you. Oh, it was you the entire time and I had no idea!" "What?" "Coccinelle, you don't recognize your own personal stray kitty?" Felix teased.

Bridgette gasped, then punched him in the arm. "My God, how didn't I see it? It's so obvious now!" "I was thinking the same thing!" "Adrien and Marinette are so clueless." "So were we." Bridgett's eyes widened. "Adrien and Marinette! We have to find them."

Felix nodded in agreement, and the two young adults took off around the corner Felix had seen Adrien and Marinette race around. They met up with their younger cousins after a few blocks. "Bridgette! You're okay!" Marinette exclaimed, hugging her.

"Ladybug told me that you had been hit!" Marinette said, covering as to how she knew because she thought that Felix, in addition to Adrien, didn't know that she was Ladybug. "Come on, we should all go home." Felix said. Behind Marinette and Adrien's backs, he winked at Bridgette. She blushed, but nodded as the boys and girls walked in separate directions.

Later that night, three events occurred at the same time of ten-thirty at night. The first was a small, black, hexagonal box that appeared in the room of a red-haired artist named Nathanael Kurtzberg. Another appeared in the room of Chloe Bourgeois. The third event that happened at that time was Bridgette Cheng and Felix Agreste met atop the Arc de Triomphe.

The years of previously being Coccinelle and Black Cat had helped Bridgette and Felix to develop a lot of skills that they otherwise wouldn't have learned, such as how to sneak into world-famous monuments and scale them while not transformed.

Felix made it up the Arc before Bridgette, and was sitting on the edge with his feet dangling over the Parisian streets when Bridgette made it up. "Man, it's been far too long since I've done that." Bridgette was clearly out of breath.

Felix chuckled. "I've been practicing, so I can't tell you that I feel the same way." "Har har." Bridgette rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "I still can't believe it was you the entire time." Felix said. "Me neither." Bridgette leaned her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"But Adrien and Marinette…" "We need to help them see past the masks." Bridgette said. "But I'm not sure how." "I could tip Adrien off about needing to go see Marinette as Chat Noir. Get them closer together that way, because that's the only one of the four combinations that doesn't involve at least one of them liking the other."

Felix suggested. "That could work. That way, they like every part of each other." "Exactly. Marinette, curious as she is, will want to know who he is once she falls for him." "He will reveal it to her at some point, and then she will be forced to reveal herself once she sees that it's Adrien." "This could work." "This _will_ work." Felix corrected.

"I had no idea we were this devious." "I figured you were. You stalked me in high school." Felix smirked as Bridgette's head fell into her hands. "Ugh, don't remind me. At least I'm no worse than Marinette." "You wanna bet?" "She has his day-to-day schedule hanging from her ceiling. I wasn't _that_ crazy."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Felix conceded, giving her a quick kiss. "So, what does this make us?" Bridgette asked him. "What do you want it to make us?" Felix responded. "Not sure." "Well, then, would being my girlfriend be alright?" Felix asked, the corners of his lips turned up in a tiny smile.

Bridgette smiled back. "Yes, I think that can be arranged." She pulled him down and brought his lips to hers in a passionate kiss, lost in their own world of bliss.

Nathanael was more suspicious than surprised when he found the little black hexagonal box on his desk. He didn't know whether or not to open it, but shrugged and did. A bright orange light filled his room, and when it cleared there was something floating in its' place.

The creature looked like a little chibi version of a fox, what with the tiny body and much larger head adorned with ears, whiskers, and a tail. It's eyes were a bright yellow-orange, and the creature was holding a necklace in the shape of a fox tail.

Nathanael scrambled back from it. "Please calm down!" The creature said, flying towards him. "I'm not going to hurt you." "What are you?" Nathanael asked. "I'm a kwami! My name is Reynard." "Okay, Reynard, what's a kwami?"

"Well, you obviously know who Ladybug and Chat Noir are, right? Well, they have these pieces of magic jewelry called-" "Miraculous. I've been akumatized, I know." "No one remembers what happened to them while they were akumatized." Reynard said, puzzled.

Nathanael shrugged. "Well, I do. Anyway, go on." "They have kwami's as well. They give them their superpowers when they merge with the miraculous. You get the power of illusions and misguiding your enemies, and your miraculous is the necklace." Reynard flew over to it and hovered above it. "So, I get to become a superhero?" "Yes!" Reynard exclaimed happily, clapping his little paws.

"What's my name going to be?" "Well, you get to pick that, but it is the fox miraculous so I'd go with something similar." Nathanael though for a moment. "How about… Volpine?" "Remember the false fox miraculous wielder, the akuma Volpina?" Reynard reminded him.

"Right, it'd look suspicious if I had the same miraculous and a similar name. What about… Firefox?" "Not very original." Reynard said. "Okay, then, how about Marrenard?" "Marrenard?" "Yeah. Like, Marron and Renard combined? Brown fox?" Reynard nodded. "I like that."

"Okay, so what do I do to transform?" Nathanael asked, slipping the necklace around his neck. "You say, 'Reynard, Canines Out.' Then you transform. By the way, you will need to feed me, and I prefer candied or crystalized pineapple." "Duly noted. Reynard, Canines Out!" Nathanael exclaimed.

Reynard merged with the fox pendant, and a bright orange light covered Nathanael. When it cleared, Nathanael was dresses in an orange suit with accents of white and brown.

He had a thick, fluffy fox tail coming from the brown belt, and ears poking out of his messy red hair. An orange mask was around his eyes, and he had a flute-looking staff across his back. "This is awesome!"

Nathanael opened his window and climbed up onto the roof before he took off across the Parisian rooftops as Marrenard.

As for Chloe… Well, when she opened the little black box, a bee kwami popped up. But Chloe didn't know that it was a kwami, and so she threw the black box at it. When the thing spoke, that was when Chloe couldn't process it anymore and fainted.

The yellow kwami sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long ride.

 **I'll officially introduce the bee miraculous in the next chapter. Thanks to Chat Jaune for Nathanael's fox superhero name!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! I'm SO SO SOOOOO SORRY for the very late update! Please don't hurt me! *runs and hides, then peeks out from hiding place* I had an idea for this chapter but lost it and couldn't quite get it back, so that turned into the worst writer's block I've ever had. And believe me when I say I've had some bad writer's blocks.**

 **Anyway! This chapter centers around Chloe, and I've already got the next chapter halfway done so that'll be up in about a week. So, for now, I apologize again for the late update and hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

 **-LilacLuna14**

Chloe was not happy about the bee. Sure, it was a kind of cute and came with a fashionable hair comb that matched her usual outfit perfectly, but when the bee started talking and flying around her room… that's when she drew the line.

Chloe had fainted, and someone came upstairs and moved her to her bed. The bee kwami hid quietly and carefully, waiting until Chloe would wake later to explain everything.

Chloe didn't wake up until late into the afternoon the following day. With her father being the mayor, being excused from school was a usual thing. Shopping was so much more important, to Chloe anyway.

Once Chloe was functioning properly again, the bee kwami came over with the miraculous. "Please don't throw anything at me or faint again!" The kwami asked. "Who… what are you?" Chloe asked, horrified. "I'm Beeline, the kwami of the bee miraculous. You're my new chosen wielder!"

"I'm what?" Chloe asked. "You get to become a superhero and save all of Paris!" Beeline exclaimed happily. She didn't know just how conceited and selfish Chloe really was, so she thought outright telling her that she'd be a hero was fine.

"A superhero, you say? Like Ladybug?" "Exactly!" Beeline beamed, thinking Chloe was catching on. Chloe squealed.

"Oh my God! Then Ladybug and I can totally become actually BFF's! And I'll be totally adored and maybe even worshipped as a superhero!" Beeline's smile faded into a frown.

"But that's not what being a superhero is about! It's about saving people and stopping Hawk Moth! He's taken control of the butterfly miraculous and using it to send out evil akuma!" "I know what akuma are, I've been akuma-tised!" Chloe snapped.

"I'll save the city and whatever, sure, but first to brag to all of social media about this!" Chloe began to pull out her phone, but Beeline flew over too quickly and stopped her. "No! Absolutely no one else can know that I exist!"

"But what about Ladybug?" "She will already know. She and Chat Noir have kwamis too. Tikki and Plagg." "Ok, ok, whatever, so now onto being a superhero and being adored by everyone in all of Paris?" Chloe pushed.

Beeline sighed. "Chloe, you don't become a superhero for fame and people's worship, you do it because it's what right. You clearly need to learn this before you're ready. I'll hide in your bag tomorrow with the miraculous and watch you go about your day. I'll help you improve who you are and what you do."

Chloe scoffed. "As if I need help. I'm already absolutely perfect and beautiful in every possible way!" "You don't have a beautiful heart, Chloe, and that's what you need to become a superhero!" Beeline said exasperatedly.

"Why does a beautiful heart matter?" "You're not kind, Chloe, I'd say you're rude and selfish based on what you just said." "So what?" Chloe asked flippantly. Beeline was beginning to get very frustrated.

"So what, you need to become a better person! The bee miraculous represents light and happiness, just as the ladybug and black cat miraculous represent creation and destruction respectively! You, as a superhero, are charged with the task of protecting everyone's happiness! You can't do that unless you adjust your attitude!"

Chloe was slightly taken aback. This little creature, who had simply appeared in her room, was now yelling at her about becoming a better person. How could she possibly be any better than she already was?

"Whatever, you can just hang out in my purse at school tomorrow as long as you're quiet." Chloe said, picking up a magazine then settling back down to read it.

Beeline sighed in annoyance and went to settle back down in the pillow she'd been napping in on a different chair. Beeline knew that Chloe was most likely going to be the most difficult task she'd ever faced, and she was a multi-millennia-old kwami.

As she read, the magazine, Chloe thought over what the bee had said. Chloe was very insecure, and she wasn't good at conveying her emotions or talking to people. Instead of asking for help, she became bitter and rude.

Chloe knew this, but she was stubborn and had pride. She couldn't stoop so low as to admit she was wrong until she had the perfect chance. Maybe this bee would give it to her. Maybe, just maybe, she could be like her idol Ladybug.

A good person who helped others just for the sake of helping them.

Chloe sighed as she flipped to the next page in the magazine. It help a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir waving to whoever was taking their picture. Chat Noir's arm was around her waist, and Ladybug's arm was around his shoulders. She was waving normally, but Chat Noir had his free hand in a peace sign.

Something caught Chloe's eye as she looked over the picture. While Ladybug was staring straight into the camera and smiling, Chat Noir was looking at her with this incredible fondness in his eyes. Chloe sighed. It was the same look she's always wished Adrien would give her.

But Adrien was enamored with Ladybug, and Chloe had caught him stealing glances at Marinette as of late. Chloe knew all too well of Marinette's crush on him, and as Adrien was her first and really only friend, who was she to take this happiness from him?

Chloe set down the magazine and walked to her bathroom. She turned on the shower and sat in there, thinking, for over an hour. By the time she got out and pulled on her robe and pajamas, she found that the sun was starting to set.

Chloe called down for dinner to be brought up, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was sushi and fruit with honeycomb and iced tea. Beeline awoke immediately when she food came up, and flew over.

"Is that honeydew and honeycomb?" She asked excitedly. "Yeah." Chloe said, picking up a California roll with her chopsticks. Beeline looked at her with big eyes asking a silent question. "Go ahead and eat it." Chloe said before taking a bite of her own food.

Beeline smiled and happily started munching. "I'll eat anything as long as honey is in the name. Honey, honeycomb, honeydew, Honey Nut Cheerios, and the like." Beeline said. "Well, at least that makes it easy to feed you."

Chloe contemplated apologizing to Beeline as she ate her sushi. Eventually, she caved. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier, okay?" Chloe said. Beeline smiled at her. "Thank you."

Chloe nodded and went back to her sushi. Maybe this bee coming into her life wouldn't be so bad as she had first thought.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello dear fellow Miraculours! I am alive again after suffering the horrendously shitty torment of Seven Essays And Two School Projects assigned and due within 3 weeks. I swear, my teachers have it in for us! Anyway, here's the newest chapter of Predcecessors and Cousins! I noticed a few people commenting that Chloe was a little OOC, and I'm well aware of that. It's intentional. Zag has already confirmed that Chloe will indeed recieve the bee miraculous, so I predict that we're going to see a big change in her character over the next two seasons. That's why she's OOC.**

 **To those of you on Instagram(and maybe Twitter/Facebook, I'm not sure) following Jeremy_Zag, WHO ELSE IS EXCITED FOR THE 2019 MIRACULOUS LADYBUG MOVIE!? I KNOW I AM! Sure, it's a little while to wait, but I think that after this TV show we've all developed/are developing a lot of patience.**

 **So, I've got another announcement. I'm kind of in need of a couple of characters for this fic, whether side characters like Bridgette and Felix's friends or new villains/akumas or new superheros/miraculous weilders, and I was hoping that all of you readers would help me out! If you've got a character is mind(it can literally just be a name and gender though general appearance/preferances would also be nice) you can leave their description in the comments(because I still have no idea how the hell PM'ing works) and I'll do my absolute best to work them into the story!**

 **Ok Ok, enough is enough. ON WITH THE STORY!**

 **-LilacLuna14**

Marinette was quite sure that Tikki was keeping something from her. Over the days since the last akuma attack, she and Adrien had been spending considerably more time together. Marinette could now talk to him normally, and even joke with him a little. While the ladybug kwami was ecstatic about this, Marinette had noticed that she seemed very on edge and almost jumpy.

Marinette decided to confront her aboit this. "Tikki, are you alright? You've been acting very strange recently." Marinette -asked. Tikki jumped at Marinette's voice. "Oh, Marinette. I'm sorry!" "You're fine, Tikki, but you just jumped at the sound of my voice. What's got you so on edge right now?"

"I can't say so, Marinette, but my guess is that you'll find out soon enough." Marinette didn't know what to think of this, but she trusted Tikki and decided to leave it at that.

Over at the Agreste mansion, Adrien had been having similar problem with Plagg. The black cat kwami hadn't been requesting camembert very often, and was constantly watching the window. "Plagg, what's gottem into you?" Adrien finally asked. "You've hardly asked me for any camembert, only eaten part of what I've brought up anyway, and you've been watching that window for hours!"

Plagg sighed. "Look, kid, I can't tell you what's up. Trust me, I wish I could, but I can't. I guess you'll probably find out pretty soon, they're both restless most of the time." "Who?" Adrien asked. Plagg realized his slip of the tongue. "Nevermind that! Go do your homework! You've got that essay due end of the week, right?"

Adrien raised his eyebrows. Plagg, the number one procrastinator and lazy guy, asking him to do homework? Something was definitely up. Adrien grabbed his phone. "I'm going to call Marinette." He hit the call button on her contact. "Adrien? Hey, what's up?" Marinette answered.

Adrien smiled. "Wanna go get some coffee?" " _Yes_." He could hear the relief in her voice. "Where should I meet you?" Adrien looked outside. It was November, and the leaves on the trees had all changed into their beautiful red, orange, and gold hues. "What about the park? We can walk from there."

"Sounds great! Don't forget to wear a coat!" Marinette reminded him. Adrien laughed. "Likewise." "See you, fiftenn minutes?" " you then!" She clicked off. Adrien stood up and walked over to his closet. A grey coat from his father's fall line was hanging up. It was the only one of the coats that he actually liked to wear.

After pulling it on, he pulled out the blue scarf his father had gotten him for his birthday. Looking at the shimmering threads, he loved the intricate pattern. Maybe his father did care after all...

Or, upon looking more closely at the pattern, maybe not. Because spelled out in the thread was a name: _Marinette_. Adrien thought back to the day of his birthday. Marinette had been trying to give him a gift, but hadn't been able to thanks to Chloe.

Adrien's blood boiled. His own father had stolen a gift from his classmate and tried to give it to him under his name isntead of hers? Adrien wondered how he hadn't seen it earlier. His father wasn't nearly nice enough to actually get him a gift. Adrien decided he would ask Marinette about it at the park, so he wrapped the scarf around his neck and headed out the door with Plagg and his phone tucked into his pocket.

Marinette arrived to the park early, as it was right across the street from her house. He had worn a pretty red coat of her own sewing and design with a little red beanie hat. She had changed from her regular pink jeans and black jacket into a pair of black leggings and a wide-necked gold tunic and brown-and-gold scarf underneath, her usual flats also being replaced by a pair of ankle boots.

"Hey, Marinette!" She heard someone call. She turned, and a smile broke out onto her face. "Adrien!" She waved as he walked over. She noticed the blue scarf he was wearing, the one she had made but that he though was from his father. "You've not been waiting long, right?" He asked, ever the gentleman.

She shook her head. "No, I just got here quickly since I live so close. So, where did you want to go?" "I actually needed to ask you about something first." Adrien said. "Oh?" Marinette asked. He nodded, and took of the scarf.

"You made this, didn't you?" Marinette's lips parted. He'd figured it out?" "Yes." She answered. "And you were trying to give it to me on my birthday, right?" She nodded. "So, my father had nothing to do with it?" She shook her head. "How did it end up at my house, then?" Adrien asked.

Marinette swallowed. "I dropped it off a little bit before the Bubbler incident. I'd forgotten to sign it, so there was a post-it saying it was from me on the front. It must have fallen off or something." _Or something is right. My father mist have taken off the post-it!_ Adrien thought.

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize sooner. I should have. My father isn't the most caring type; I can't believe I actually entertained the posibility of him really getting me a gift." Sadness filled Adrien's eyes. Marinette, being Marinette, stepped forward and hugged him. Naturally, he hugged back.

"I'm really sorry, Adrien." "Thank you, Marinette, but you have nothing to be sorry for. My father does." Adrien stepped back from the hug. Marinette's cheeks went pink when he took her hand and smiled. "Now, where do you want to go get coffee from?" "I know this great little café a few streets away." Marinette replied.

"Altight, then. Lead the way." She didn't actually lead as the walked off, but told him when thry were to turn and such. All the while, they talked about many things. "So, how long is Felix staying?" Marinette asked. "I actually don't know. Until he feels like leaving, I guess. What about Bridgette?" "Likewise." "Hm." "I know it's early, but do you have any Thanksgiving and/or Christmas plans?"

Marinette asked. "No. My father's not going to be around for either holiday." Adrien replied in melancholy. Marinette chewed her lip, searching for a solution. Her face lit up as the got one. "Hey! What if you came to my house for both holidays?" She exclaimed. "Felix too!"

"Could I?" Adrien asked, growing excited. "Oh, I'm quite sure my parents would love to have you! And since Bridgette and Felix are now dating, that makes it even better!" Adrien was thrilled. He might actually get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with a family for the first time since his mother's death.

After she had passed, his father hsd grown Scrooge-like and come to hate Thankshiving and Christmas, more so the latter, because they were meant to be celebrated with family. And he no longer had a whole family.

"I'm so excited! Thank you so much, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed. Marinette smiled. "I'm going to call my mom and talk it over with her, okay?" "Okay!" Marinette talked to her mother over the phone while Adrien walked with her. Everything seemed to be going perfectly for the two teens.

But as for their kwami, they knew this was only the shallow end of the pool. Beeline and Reynard had been awoken. More was to come. They had both seen Reynard's new chosen dashing around Parisian rooftops clad in orange testing his powers. They could only imagine what Beeline's new chosen would be like.

For now, they couldn't tell their chosens about this lest they panick, but they would find out soon enough.

 **Ok! Chapter 7 in done! See you next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

The akuma of the day was an old lady. She had apparently been knitting in the park when she dropped her knitting and no one grabbed for her, so it landed in the Siene and floated away. This prompted her transformation into the Yarn-Bomber. She entangled citizens in giant yarn balls.

Ladybug was getting fed up with it. She was supposed to meet Bridgette and Bridgette's friend Lynn for lunch in ten minutes. Bridgette, knowing Marinette, had probably assumed she would be late, but with Chat Noir too busy pawing at all the yarn balls to help her, Marinette knew she was cutting it close.

"Whatever. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cried as she tossed her yoyo up into the air. Down fell a giant pair of scissors. Ladybug used them to cut through Yarn-Bomber's yarn web and knock her down, then proceeded to break her akuma-tized knitting needles and reset everything.

"My Lady? What happened? Where did the yarn go?" Chat Noir asked, looking around. "You spent the entire time pawing at yarn while I had to do all the dirty work! Now I'm late for my lunch date!" Ladybug was fuming.

" _Date?!_ " Chat Noir asked. "Yes, I'm meeting my cousin for lunch." "Oh." Chat had thought that she had a boyfriend or something. "So, I don't have a rival?" He teased. Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Of course you do, kitty." "Wait, seriously?" Chat asked, nearly falling over.

" _Yes_." Ladybug said in exasperation. "Might I ask who?" Chat's heart was sinking into his stomach. Ladybug sighed. "His name is Adrien, if you must know." With that, she swung off on her yo-yo, leaving Chat Noir to stand there puzzling.

Marinette got close to the café as Ladybug, detransforming just a bit away. She jogged over and walked through the door just barely three minutes late. She noticed Bridgette waving at her out of the corner of her eye. Sitting next to her was a girl that looked rather Asian, with her slightly almond-shaped eyes, short dark hair, and pale skin. Her dark eye color matched that of the coffee-colored beanie on her head, and she wore a black top, dark brown skirt, and black boots.

Bridgette had changed out of her regular blouse, jacket, and shorts, wearing instead a seafoam-blue dress of Marinette's own design. Marinette herself, however, had stayed in her usual attire.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late." Marinette said as she slid into the open seat. Bridgette smiled. "Oh no, it's fine! We've only ordered coffee." "Good." "So, Marinette, this is Lynn Kairo. She's my friend from high school!" Lynn waved. "Hi." Marinette smiled. "Hello!" "So, Bridgette tells me that you have adopted her old stalker-ish habits towards a blonde Agreste boy, hm?" Lynn asked, a smile creeping onto her face.

Marinette giggled. "Yeah, I guess so." "You know, I was her fantastic wing-girl the entire time she was pursuing him. Your cousin was relentless in her efforts." "I guess you could say I am too." Marinette giggled.

The three girls spent the lunch talking, laughing, and getting to know each other better. Marinette could see why Bridgette liked Lynn so much. After Bridgette and Marinette said their goodbyes to Lynn, they walked back home together. "So, while we were waiting on you, I checked the news and found that Ladybug had been engaging in an Akuma battle against a crazy yarn grandma right before you showed up late to lunch." Bridget prompted.

"Yeah. Chat Noir was absolutely no help the entire time; he just kept pawing at the yarn! It was really irritating." Marinette replied. "Sounds like it. But this has to be the craziest Akuma yet, right?" "Nope, that honour goes to one called Shark-Man-Nado. It was half man, half shark, and he created all of these massive shark-filled tornado things. It was not a very fun day thanks to this occurance." Marinette said as she pushed open the door to her parent's bakery.

"So, what's up with you and Felix? I haven't asked in a few days." Marinette asked her cousin with a sly smirk on her face upon the two entering her room. Bridgette blushed. "Nothing too much. We're going out to dinner on Saturday, and then to go walk around and get ice cream downtown." Marinette clapped her hands together and feigned swooning.

"How romantic!" Bridgette giggled. "I guess so." "Still no progress with Adrien?" Marinette shook her head. "I'm better at talking to him, I hardly ever stutter anymore, but I can't seem to work up the courage to ask him out." Bridgette smiled at her cousin. "Aw, cheer up, Mari! I'm sure you'll be able to sometime very soon! You don't even have to ask him out on a date-date, just ask if he wants to grab coffee and study sometime!"

"Maybe." Marinette replied.

• • • • •

That night when Marinette transformed into Ladybug for patrol, she was ready to check through the city quickly and then get back home in time to finish her physics homework and get a good night's sleep. She was not expecting Chat Noir to show up with a bouquet of flowers. "For you, My Lady." He said upon her arrival, bowing and presenting her with the flowers.

It was a mixed bunch, with roses, white lilies, pink carnations, and a few purple irises. "Thank you, Chaton, but what's this all about?" "I just figured I should show some love and appreciation for my best friend and fellow hero." Chat answered, twirling his belt-tail in his hand as he spoke. "Alright, but how am I supposed to go on patrol holding a bouquet?" Ladybug asked.

Chat smiled. "I was going to have you skip patrol, My Lady. I owe you for not doing anything to help defeat the akuma earlier today. So you go on and get some sleep; I can watch Paris for tonight." He said. Ladybug smiled fondly at him. "Thank you very much, Chaton. I'll see you tomorrow?" "Hopefully so." Chat replied.

With that, he jumped off into the night, traveling through the streets by using his extendable baton as a vault. Chat Noir had figured out that Ladybug liked Adrien, his alter-ego, based on the name she dropped the other day. She hadn't said his last name, but Chat had thought back on his interactions with Ladybug as Adrien. She had been very different around him then, and blushed a lot.

Back with Volpina, she had even been willing to give up her miraculous for Adrien when she had thought that Volpina's illusion was real. Based on this, Chat knew that they did technically like each other, Ladybug just didn't know that yet. So, his new objective became finding out who she was underneath the mask.

Chat Noir was aware that this would be a daunting task, not easy in the least, as Ladybug was very cautious and protective of her life outside of being a hero. Maybe Chat could talk to Marinette. Ladybug had let on that they were close friends, and they'd worked together twice during the Evillustrator and Princess Fragrance akumas.

The patrol didn't take nearly as long as Chat Noir had expected it to, what with him doing all of the city instead of just half of it, but before he knew it he was done and climbing back through his window. Chat de-transformed, and got out some camembert for Plagg before bundling himself under the covers of his bed. Adrien was asleep quite quickly, wondering how on earth he would be able to fulfill his goal and hopefully end up with Ladybug.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi. I would like to apologize immensely for the ridiculously late update, and thank everyone who has been patient and encouraged me to keep writing this fic. You are all wonderful, amazing, beautiful humans! I do have the next three chapters finished but unedited, so I will fine-tune them and spam them throughout the week!**

 **A side note: I now that we now have confirmation that season 2 will be out this December and that Alya will be the fox miraculous holder, but since I've already established Nathaniel as Marrenard in my story, I'm just going to stick with that. I do not think that I will be having Nino as the new turtle miraculous older, even though I totally support that headcanon, simply because I was thinking of adding in an OC or two to possibly be miraculous wielders. I might or I might not, but aside from super-characters, there will be the ~big reveal~ in this fic, and very soon too!**

 **Ps, happy 2 years guys!**

 **Thanks,**

 **-LilacLuna14**

Another day, another few hours at school, another Akuma attack. What with the rapidly cooling temperatures, Adrien was beginning to very much dislike the rather thin material of his Miraculous suit. After their Akuma-of-the-day was dealt with, both he and Ladybug were shivering like crazy. "I really need to talk with my Kwami about upgrading this suit." Ladybug said, wrapping her arms around herself to try and retain a bit of warmth.

"Yeah, and it's only going to get worse." Chat said. "We should probably go ahead and take off so we don't catch colds, yeah? Unless, of course, you'd be up for cuddling to stay warm?" He winked at Ladybug, who rolled her eyes as she walked to the edge of the building they were standing on. "Bye, Chat." She said before yo-yo-ing away. Chat Noir sighed, extending his stick to carry him off the building. When he de-transformed and arrived back home a bit later, he found Felix and Bridgette in the kitchen.

"What're you making?" Adrien asked, eyeing their flour-covered aprons. "Danishes. We made the dough earlier since it has to chill before you can use it, and when we started rolling it out, Felix got a little out of control." Bridgette explained with a smile. "How was school?" Felix asked as he went to check the beeping oven. "Pretty good. I can't believe how cold it is for early November, though. The classroom was like a freezer."

"Yeah, the weather is saying we might have snow come a little early this year." Felix said as he walked back over with a tray of danishes from the oven. "Well, what do you think?" The older Agreste asked Bridgette. "They look just about perfect! All we need for them now-" Bridgette grabbed a small sifter and a bag of powdered sugar. "-is some powdered sugar! Then you're welcome to taste-test if you'd like, Adrien. They're strawberry, by the way." Bridgette added as she sprinkled the sifted sugar over the pastries.

Adrien fell in love with these danishes after taking his first bite from one, and would have eaten every last pastry had Felix not forced him to stop after devouring five. "Leave some for us!" Felix scolded, but Bridgette only laughed and handed Adrien another one before he left to go upstairs and work on his homework.

Adrien dropped into his desk chair and turned on his computer, checking his digital calendar to see if he had anything besides homework for the rest of the day. There was nothing, thankfully, but he did notice the little note for next week's Thursday: that he and Felix were supposed to go over to Marinette's for Thanksgiving. Adrien did find it a little odd that they were celebrating an American holiday when Marinette and her family were not American to any degree, at least to his knowledge. They might have been and he simply wasn't aware of it, but he still found it odd.

Nevertheless, he was getting free - and very delicious - food. Plagg flew up and settled on his shoulder, munching on some camembert. "Are you feeling any better, Plagg? Not very uneasy anymore?" Adrien asked, and the small Kwami shook his head. "Not much, but still be on the lookout. I sensed some activation in the fox and bee miraculouses, and I'm a bit worried they may have fallen into bad hands." Plagg replied.

"Only a bit worried?" Adrien echoed. "Yeah. I don't really care so long as I have my cheese, but you know, I still kind of care about you and I definitely care about Ladybug's Kwami, and also kind of the person herself." Plagg said before gulping down the rest of his cheese. "Speaking of cheese, got any more?"

Marinette was absolutely _exhausted_. She had been up ridiculously late sewing the previous night, and was now completely out of energy thanks to the Akuma attack. When she got home after the Akuma attack and saw that Bridgette was gone, Marinette collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep. Tikki just giggled and went off to get some cookies, returning to her wielder's room once she had found her snack.

Tikki hoped that the new wielder of the actual fox miraculous would be decent, and that Marinette would at least give them a chance. Tikki knew that the Volpina incident had left a mark on Marinette, but what with the increasingly more dangerous Akuma beginning to surface, Ladybug and Chat Noir could use the help from the bee and fox miraculouses.

It was a couple of hours later that Bridgette finally returned home, and Marinette was still asleep. Bridgette giggled as she woke her younger cousin for dinner. "Marinette~," Bridgette said, repeatedly poking her cheek. "You've got to wake up! School starts in ten minutes!" She exclaimed, deciding to play a prank on Marinette. "Huwaa!" Marinette cried out as she woke up and leap from her bed. "Oh no! If I'm late for school again, I might get detention!" She said as she grabbed her school bag and jacket, then practically jumped out of her room.

It was a good few minutes before the younger bluenette came storming back up the stairs scowling. "Not funny," Marinette grumbled, and Bridgette and Tikki burst out laughing. "Man, that was priceless! Your face!" Bridgette said through her laughter. "It's not time for school, but it is time for my patrol. I'm supposed to meet Chat in about ten minutes, so I should head out." Marinette said as she set her jacket and bag down. "Tikki, spots on!" She cried, and transformed into Ladybug.

"Ah, I remember doing that like it was just yesterday." Bridgette said to herself. She hated to admit it, but she wished she were still Lady Luck. There was a freedom that came with wielding a miraculous that Bridgette sorely missed and couldn't find in anything else. Marinette, now transformed as Ladybug, walked over to her closet and fished out two capelets. "It's getting quite cold and our suits are very thin, and I just remembered I was working on these as a prototype for Alya. I figure they will work just as well as regular jackets, but will be a bit more moveable." Marinette explained as she wrapped the red and black-spotted capelet around herself, buttoning it shut.

"It looks wonderful, Marinette. I'm sure Chat Noir will love his." Bridgette said, then waved to the balcony. "Go on and get your patrol done. I don't think your parents will be back for a good while, but if they do get home early, I'll keep them occupied." Marinette smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Guess I'm off, then!" She climbed out onto her balcony and yo-yo-ed away into the setting sun. Bridgette sighed and headed downstairs to start working on a few things for the bakery tomorrow.

By the time Ladybug made it to the meeting point, the sun had almost disappeared entirely beneath the horizon. "Good evening, My Lady. Glad to see you on this _wonderful_ evening." Chat greeted her through a shiver, and she all but threw the black and green fuzzy capelet at him. "I made us these to help stay warm." She said as he held it up, then put it on and fastened it. "Thank you very much, Ladybug." Chat said with a genuine, non-flirtatious smile. "Now, should we get going or-" Ladybug cut herself off when she saw a flash of orange-brown movement out of the corner of her eye.

"What was that?" She asked, pulling out her yo-yo. "You think it's an Akuma?" Chat replied in a question. "Maybe, but two in one day?" "Wouldn't be the first time." Chat said, drawing his baton. Some landed next to them, and both heroes attacked at the same time. "Woah!" The person said, jumping away. "Cut it out! I'm not an Akuma!" "That's exactly what an Akuma would say." Ladybug said, but nevertheless, she pulled back her yo-yo in favor of spinning it menacingly in her hand.

"Who are you?" Chat Noir asked. "I'm Marrenard, the new wielder of the fox miraculous." He said, showing them the foxtail pendant on his necklace. This only appeared to make Ladybug angrier, as she stepped closer and swung her yo-yo at him once. "The fox miraculous was Akuma-tized and in the hands of Hawkmoth; that's old news. What makes your story any more convincing than Lila's, huh? A magic box appeared in your room with a Kwami and jewelry and suddenly you're a superhero?"

"Well, yeah, actually," Marrenard said, stepping back from Ladybug. "My Lady." Chat Noir said, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't overreact. He isn't Volpina, and who knows? He might actually be the real deal. We could use the help, you know, and maybe the awakening of a new miraculous could be why our Kwamis were feeling off a little bit back." Ladybug had mentioned to her partner that her Kwami had been feeling off a bit ago, and when he said the same, they had both been fairly concerned.

"Please put it away." Chat said, referring to her yo-yo. He had already tucked his baton away. "Fine," Ladybug grunted, reattatching her yo-yo to her hip. "So what do you want?" She asked Marrenard bitterly. "To help you guys beat Hawkmoth." He replied. "I've been Akuma-tised before. I'm not sure how I remember it, but I do, and I know that I was horrible and tried to hurt people when I was under that influence. I don't want other people to get hurt from everything going on with this, and I don't want people to have to face the same regret that I feel if they remember being Akuma-tised."

"Alright, but how do you remember being Akuma-tised? That's never happened to anyone but Lila, and I'm not really sure how much she actually remembers." Chat Noir said, brow furrowing. "I have no idea. My Kwami, Reynard, was just as confused as us." Marrenard said. Ladybug was still uncharacteristically silent, her distrust and prejudice towards him painfully obvious.

"I think we should give him a chance. What about you, Ladybug?" Chat questioned, looking to his partner. She slid her blue eyes over to meet his bright green ones, and sighed. "Fine." She stomped over to Marrenard and stuck her pointer finger in his face. "You make even one move out of line, or give me one reason to doubt you, you'd wish you'd never approached me." Ladybug spun on her heel and walked to the edge of the building. "You can take him through the entire patrol route, Chat. I'm heading home." She threw her yo-yo and swung off.

Chat Noir sighed and ran a hand through his hair, being careful with his claws. "I'm really sorry about her." He said, walking over to Marrenard. "She can be difficult sometimes. And the incident with the false fox miraculous wielder who was actually an Akuma, well... it's a touchy subject for her." Marrenard nodded and gave a small smile. "I get it. Trust is a slow thing, but thanks for putting your faith in me, Chat. I hope I can work well with you and sometime maybe Ladybug too."

Chat nodded and stretched. "Alright, so how about I take you through our usual patrol route? SInce we'll be doing the full, it's a bit time-consuming, so I hope you didn't have any other plans for this evening." Marrenard shook his head. "Nope, I got nothing else." Chat grinned widely. "Then let's go!"


End file.
